HSK Levels Explained
Last year I passed my HSK 5 test, and this year I’m looking to pass my HSK 6 exam. In this post, I’ll talk about my experience with the different HSK levels, and how useful each of them are for different lifestyles in China and interacting in Chinese. I would like to stress that this is a personal account, but after living in China for nearly 5 years and beginning my HSK 6 studies I am confident that this is an accurate depiction of each level of study.
Book Layout
Chinese HSK books all have a similar layout, regardless of the level. This is intrinsically a very good idea, as it provides the reader with a stable construct, and lets you know what to expect throughout the entire course. The beginning of the chapters will see a small warm up, and then give a reading section, followed by a grammar section, and finally some extra content.
The only real differences between each book are the level of difficulty and the sheer quantity of vocabulary, grammar points and reading material. that the publisher assumes you have already passed the preceding level, and as such the Chinese used becomes more difficult. Where the HSK 1 course book will teach only a handful of new words per chapter, HSK 5 can see upwards of 30, and HSK 6 can see upwards of 50! This means that 3 chapters of the HSK 6 book teaches the same number of words as the entire HSK 1 curriculum (and HSK 6 has 36 chapters total). It also means that HSK 6 leaners will have a much more intimate understanding of both Chinese language and following this, of Chinese culture.
Does this mean that we should all learn HSK 6? Absolutely not. Each header below will refer to a specific HSK level, and give an account of what you can expect to be able to do at each level with your Chinese ability. For example, literary Chinese will start to be explored in HSK 5 and HSK 6, so if your goal is reading newspapers and academical studies, then you should be aiming for a higher level. But for a week’s holiday in China this is hardly necessary, and HSK 2 could be a more suitable goal.
Something important to note is that anything is better than nothing. In my experience, Chinese people are very accepting, and will be both amazed and encouraging when you can speak any Chinese at all. People won’t belittle you for making mistakes, and will often help you along your learning journey.
HSK 1
Word Count: 150
Sentence Example: 中午几点吃饭？ (What time will we eat this afternoon?)
HSK 1 is made for absolute beginners to Chinese, and incorporates some of the most commonly-used words and characters. Because the word counts of HSK 1 and 2 are comparatively low to the other chapters (150 words each), you can expect to pass these the fastest.
The HSK 1 book will show the characters for each word, but also give an overhead in pinyin. The addition of pinyin is very useful for beginners who are unfamiliar with how the Chinese tone system works, and can help with pronounciation. An English version of the text is also provided below. At this point, recognising the characters will most likely be the most challenging part of learning, so the English section is great for double-checking that you understood the passage.
With HSK 1, you should expect to recognise very basic characters on menus, show courtesy to others, and give introductions and short accounts. You will also begin learning numbers and basic nouns and pronouns. It will still be very difficult to communicate meaningfully with Chinese speakers, but it is a strong start, and reflects a lot about your dedication to learning and openness about other cultures and languages. When I started learning Chinese I had just started at a Chinese school, and I remember locals and friends supporting me wherever they could, as lots of foreigners who become English teachers choose not to learn any Chinese.
HSK 1 will give a great introduction to Chinese, and will help you curry favour with Chinese locals. It will allow you to understand basic words, but won’t break down any communicational barriers.
HSK 2
Word Count: 300
Sentence Example: 上班的时候，他觉得很累。 (He feels tired when he is starting his shift.)
During my time learning HSK 2, every word I learned felt invaluable and applicable in most situations. HSK 2 builds wonderfully on the previous book, includes some extremely useful verbs and adjectives, and begins to expand your vocabulary to allow you to express yourself more confidently.
This level is still related to basic and general concepts, and most of the verbs used in this section will be extremely useful to familiarise yourself with. If you have a good knowledge of HSK 1 and HSK 2, you will be able to follow along to small conversations where the speaker is speaking slowly, and give basic sentences of your own. However, learners at this level might find back-and-forth communication challenging.
If you live abroad or visit a Chinese area of your hometown, you will also begin recognising more and more characters on signs as you walk through, and will pick up and fragments of what locals are saying around you. If you are in this situation, don’t be shy - try and speak to them!
HSK 2 will be brilliant for learners who want to have a basic familiarity with Chinese without having to spend a copious amount of time studying. This is where small conversations can start to take place.
HSK 3
Word Count: 600
Sentence Example: 现在钱不是问题了，主要是没有时间。(Right now the problem isn’t money, it’s mainly that I don’t have any time.)
In my opinion, HSK 3 is the level where the learner will find themselves able to express most of what they want to say. It might not be the most optimal way of communicating with others, but it gets the job done. Having a vocabulary of 600 words will give you confidence in situations where a general usage of the Chinese language is required, although you’ll struggle to go into any particular topics using detail. For example, you could give a basic description of eating your favourite food with your friends last night, but struggle to fully explain the flavours of the food or give an account of the conversations that took place.
At HSK 3, I was able to converse with the friends I played badminton with, but often had to rely on translators to say something nuanced. However, it was great to see that my knowledge of how Chinese sentences work had consolidated, as when a sentence was translated I could quickly recognise which word would function as the adjective, the adverb, and so on.
In the HSK 3 book there is no pinyin in the core text, meaning that you will need to refer back to the ‘New Words’ section if you forget how to pronounce something new. However, all of the other vocabulary shown will be previously-learned content, so it shouldn’t be the case that you’ll feel lost. During my time at this level, I felt that the grammar in HSK 3 was much more difficult, yet all of the grammar points felt useful and applicable in conversations with others, and are definitely worth learning.
HSK 3 is a great level to reach if you want to spend a short time in China without needing to rely on translators to have general conversations.
HSK 4
Word Count: 1200
Sentence Example: 看来我只看到了你成功时获得的鲜花，却没注意到你成功前留下的汗水。(It seems I’ve only seen the fruits of your labour, but hadn’t noticed the hardships you went through along the way.)
As HSK levels get higher, you’ll find that individual characters that you have previously learned reappear in the word list. After finishing HSK 3, you’ll be familiar with quite a few characters already, so even though 1200 words can feel quite daunting from the get-go, you might be surprised at how fast you start assimilating new words. HSK 4 starts building on your passive vocabulary, which are words that you might not use every day, and as a result might not be very familiar with of confident using, but that you will be able to recognise when said by others or written down in a passage. It is obvious that one’s passive vocabulary will be bigger than their active vocabulary, and in my experience your active vocabulary will be about one HSK level down from your passive vocabulary. When I was learning HSK 4, I was able to actively use all of the words from HSK 3, and understand all of the HSK 4 words. At HSK 5 I was able to actively use all of the words from HSK 4, and understand all of the HSK 5 words.
At HSK 4 you will find conversations to go much more fluidly, and while detailed conversations might still be out of your comfort zone, you can hold your own in a conversation and begin to show personality in your use of the Chinese language. Most things that are included in HSK 4 can be used in spoken Chinese, with very little emphasis on any kind of literary Chinese.
HSK 4 is a high enough level to live in China without running into any big language barriers, and is a very appropriate goal to strive for if you are looking to be semi-fluent in Chinese.
HSK 5
Word Count: 2500
Sentence Example: 为了延长沙丁鱼的存活期，减少经济损失，渔民们想了很多办法，但情况仍然没有得到太大的改善。(Fishermen have thought of many methods in order to extend the lifespan of sardines and cut economic losses, but as of yet there still haven’t been any big improvements.)
I stayed at HSK 5 for most of my time living in China. If people asked me, I’d often say “HSK 5+”, because I wasn’t confident enough to take the HSK 6 exam at the time. At this level, I had no problems whatsoever in conversations with other teachers at my school, and I’d often help to translate official school newsletters and important messages. Expressing myself was very easy, and while reading books and magazines I could understand anything that wasn’t an idiom (these come in HSK 6) or literary Chinese. This is usually the base minimum for university study and job applications, although this can sometimes be as high as HSK 6 and (rarely) as low as HSK 4.
In regards to listening, I could understand the children's TV shows played in the kindergarten I worked at with absolutely no difficulty. During my cinema visits, I could also follow along to the plot of movies, but I couldn’t seamlessly understand every word - especially where strong accents came into play. Chinese dramas and songs are especially difficult to understand at this level, as they sometimes rely on idioms and literary Chinese. However, in terms of ‘functional Chinese’, HSK 5 is where you are conversationally fluent. Even if you don’t understand something, you will be capable of listening to an explanation given in Chinese instead of relying on a translator. If you’re not relying on English whatsoever to continue learning, this is fluency.
Something that I especially dislike about HSK books is that they do not provide an explanation as to which words are literary Chinese (书面语) and which are spoken Chinese (口语), and this begins to show during HSK 5. This makes individual learning very difficult, as you can feel ready to use your new vocabulary to impress your friends and colleagues, and feel dejected when they tell you “we don’t commonly use that word, it’s too formal”. If you are in contact with any native Chinese people, I would recommend running through the vocabulary list with them to avoid this issue.
HSK 5 is ambitious and highly regarded and sought-after by academic institutions and workplaces. If you are looking for a career which incorporates Mandarin, or want to be able to have conversations in pure Chinese with locals, this is the level you should aim for.
HSK 6
Word Count: 5000
Sentence Example: 无论你怎么选择，都不太可能选一份称心如意的工作安安稳稳一辈子，由于经济环境的不确定，企业的寿命越来越短。(No matter how you choose, it is not very likely that you will find a job that will satisfy you and provide stability for your whole life. Owing to the uncertainty of the current economical climate, the lifespan of companies and enterprises are becoming shorter and shorter.)
HSK 6 is the highest level that you can currently attain (although there is a separate HSK system being implemented with 7, 8 and 9), and is the level that is considered to be true Chinese fluency. It’s also the level I’m hoping to reach by the end of 2024. HSK 6 is still not ‘mastery’, which is comparative with native speakers who command a significantly higher vocabulary and familiarity with the language, but it is an incredible feat to achieve, and is a statement that you are able to content with the most serious of language learners. People at this level of Chinese will be able to seamlessly communicate with native speakers, recognising the historical impact of Chinese on its language and the intricacies of Chinese characters. They are also likely to be able to guess a new word’s pronunciation and meaning to a high level of accuracy.
HSK 6 incorporates around 40-50 new words a chapter, as well as 2-3 grammar points, of which the latter are all explained in complete Chinese. There are also often supplementary vocabulary sections at the back of each chapter. Here you will find the biggest challenge of your learning journey, as the information provided can feel overwhelming. The translations provided by HSK are also sometimes incorrect (as stated by many natives I asked), and sometimes the nuance of a certain word can be left unexplained. Because of this, when I was learning online with a tutor, it took many sessions to get through a single chapter. I also found myself searching the differences between similar words online very frequently. Fortunately, learners at an HSK 6 level you should be able to understand explanations given by native speakers online, even if they are explained in Chinese.
Due to the sheer amount that there is to learn, passing an HSK 6 exam will take a significantly longer period of time than HSK 5. This could be a level that you will want to reach if you are married to a Chinese person, are academically invested in learning Chinese or need it for a career path, or have a fascination with the culture and want to blend into a Chinese crowd!
